In the fourth game of this season at Oakland, there was a skirmish among the big bodies in the middle of the line, and somebody rolled onto the leg of Chargers guard Mike Goff. It's a lineman's worst fear: the hit you never see coming.

Goff felt a pop, and pain shot through his knee. He thought, “Uh oh. I don't know what that was, but it kind of hurt.”

It turned out Goff suffered a second-degree medial collateral sprain – one degree away from a complete blowout. But he stayed in that game and “rolled on through it,” just as he has so many other times before.

Offensive linemen play through injuries that would send most guys to the bench, and Goff is the Chargers' rock of durability. Sunday in Pittsburgh, the 11th-year veteran will reach a milestone by starting his 100th consecutive game. His streak is nearly double that of the next-best Charger.

“It's something to take pride in, to be able to play that many straight,” Goff, 32, said. “Just to know I reached the century mark is exciting, but it doesn't matter if we don't win the game.”

The Iowa product, in the last year of a five-year contact with San Diego, hasn't missed a start since being out for three games with a lacerated knee early in the 2002 season while playing for Cincinnati.

Goff has played with plenty of physical problems, including significant injuries to his hands and feet the past two years. He said he has snapped tendons in his finger in a game, had surgery on Monday and returned to the practice field on Thursday. Goff said he is playing with a ruptured tendon in his thumb, but doesn't want it worked on until the offseason.

“You kind of get dinged up,” he said. “A coach told me a long time ago: 'There's a difference between being hurt and being injured. You can play hurt, but you can't play injured.' That's how I've always looked at it. As offensive linemen, you're supposed to be tough and physical; that kind of sticks with you.”

Gates milestone

If Antonio Gates can score a receiving touchdown this week, he will shatter the record for being the fastest tight end to 50 touchdowns.

Gates has 49 through 86 career games, and the fastest to 50 is former Redskins tight end Jerry Smith, who reached the milestone in 100 games. Current Chiefs player Tony Gonzalez is No. 2 at 118. Only six tight ends have had 50 career touchdowns.

Smith died of AIDS in 1986, nine years after he retired from the NFL.

Favorable time

The 4 p.m. EST start is just fine with the Chargers, who are 0-2 in 1 p.m. EST games this year.

“The starting time works in our favor. Having our normal game-day routine is a positive,” quarterback Philip Rivers said.

San Diego has only one more 1 p.m. EST contest, on Dec. 14 at Kansas City.

Injury report

Receiver Buster Davis (groin) and cornerback Cletis Gordon (knee) are out for Sunday's game. Linebacker Marques Harris (hamstring) and safety/corner Steve Gregory (neck) practiced Friday and are questionable. With Gordon out and Gregory hurting, coach Norv Turner said he was leaving open the possibility of promoting safety Tra Battle or cornerback DeJuan Tribble from the practice squad.